UK to launch major marine energy initiative
23 Jan 2012
The British government will announce the creation of the UK's first marine energy hub, The South West Marine Energy Park, stretching from Bristol to Cornwall and as far as the Isles of Scilly, as part of a push to speed up progress in the sector.
According to climate change minister Greg Barker who spoke to Sky News, the potential for marine energy in the UK was huge.
He said it was estimated that there was as much as 27GW of electricity out there to be harnessed, which was the equivalent of eight nuclear power stations- a huge resource that was not being tapped.
Marine energy involves harnessing the energy from the sea including powerful waves and tidal currents to produce electricity.
According to the Carbon Trust's analysis which was released in May last year, around 68,000 jobs could be created in the UK in the emerging sector.
Sky News, which says it was granted exclusive access to a new British wave power device currently under development of the coast of Dartmouth, reported that it worked basically like a dam, using the rise and fall of the sea water to pump water uphill from where it could be released to drive a turbine.
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